Starting device for explosive-engines.



W. J. POSTER.

STARTING DEVICE FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED 11:13.25, 1911.

Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N mnumunuuun INVENTOR 1 WITNESSES: a M 14 By Attorneys, M71

W. J. FOSTER. STARTING DEVICE FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.25, 1911.

Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

fig. 9.

Fig. 2

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OFF-

OFF-* INVENTOR WITNESSES:

WILLIAM J. ros'rnn,

or NEW YORK, N. Y.

STARTING DEVICE FOR EXPLOSIVE-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

Application filed February 25, 1911. Serial No. 610,672.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM J. Fosrsn, a citizen of the United States,residing in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in StartingDevices for Explosive-Engines, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to a starting device for explosive engines.

It relates further to the use of a condenser "for providing thg sparknecessary to start the engine when at fs't."

It relates particularly to a mechanism and arrangements by which acondenser .is charged from the engine when it is running, and by whichthe condenser is so discharged when the engine is at rest that the sparkis caused to jump across the sparkplug and start the engine.

To carry out my invention, I preferably employ a magneto which is woundwith two circuits, a primary and a secondary. In the primary there isnserted an interrupter, and in the secondary circuit a distributer forconducting the sparks induced by breaking the primary circuit to thevarious spark plugs of the respective engine cylinders. Ipreferablyprovide means in one of the distributer circuits for'directingthe spark into the condenser, and I preferably discharge the condenserthrough the primary circuit.

In the drawings accompanying and form ing part of this application:Figure 1 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the circuits and meansfor connecting them; Fig. 2 is a cross-section through an embodiment ofmy switch in one of the forms in practical use; Fig. 3 is a front viewof Fig. 2 showing in dotted lines a means for preventing the switch fromturning in the wrong direction; Fig. 4 is a section of Fig. 2 on theline a2 m showing the switch in running position; Fig. 5, the samesection with the switch in the off position; Fig. 6, the same section,with the switch nearly in the starting position; Figs. 7, 8 and 9 areback views of the switch showing the pointer in the positionscorresponding to the Figs. 4, 5 and 6 respectively.

Referring to the drawings, A. represents an ordinary magneto providedwith a primary winding B and a secondary winding C connected in themanner usual with such machines. Into the primary circuit there isintroduced an interrupter D, and in the secing contacts 1, 2, 3, 4 forsending the secondary sparks through the circuits 1, 2, 3, 4 across thespark-gaps, in the various engine cylinders. In Fig. 1 the interrupterand distributer are, for the sake of clearness, shown developed at theside of the magneto. These two may be geared together and run from themagneto shaft, or the distributer may be separately driven, but theratio of the two speeds is chosen as two to one for a four cylinderengine, and in general the ratio of theispeeds of interrupter anddistributer will be equalto the number of cylinders divided by two.branches of the distributer, say 3, there is placed a switch F which isdesigned for directing the spark of circuit 3, for a certain period,through the condenser G.

H is a switch for connecting the condenser into its discharging circuit.

a a a is the short primary circuit through cuit through which thecondenser is discharged; 1) is the secondary circuit embracing the slipring and brush of the magneto, the distributer E, the switch F, thedivided circuits 1, 2, 3, 4, the spark-plugs and magnet-o frame (formingground).

I is' the switch frame on which are arranged terminals J, j, g, k, f f,f f, (Z, d.

The operation is as follows :The magneto coils B and C being revolved bythe engine, a primary current is started which circulates through theprimary coil and the interrupter. Twice in every revolution theinterrupter breaks the primary circuit. Thereby there is produced acurrent in the secondary circuit b passing from the magneto to thedistributer E, and thence from various sections, 1, 2, 3, 4, of thedistributer, through the circuits 1, 2, 3, 4, to the spark-plugs back tothe magneto. When the engine is running in the ordinary way, the currentin one of the distributer circuits, say 3, is led, instead of directlyto the engine, to the switch pivot is, the switch 5', contact F, andthence to the engine. If now the switch F is turned counter-clockwise onits pivot 70, it comes incontact with the strip J, and the sparks incircuit 3 now passes through strip J, conductor 0 across the denser G,charging the latter and passing In one of'thespark-gap d to conductor 0,thence to conondary circuit a rotary distributer E hav- I theinterrupter; a is the longer primary cirout through conductor 6,spark-gap d, contact h to ground. As the interrupter, when operating afour cylinder engine, revolves twice while the distributer revolvesonce,

the same pole of the magneto armature will tact 9, contact h and'back toground on magneto flame. The engine then stops. If now it is desired tostart the engine, the switch F is thrown back onto contact the switch His then pressed in against the spring Z, bringing the contacts f f intoconnection with the contacts f. The condenser is now discharged throughthe primary circuit (1', thereby inducing a current in the secondary,throwing a spark across the spark-plug, igniting the gas in the cylinderand starting the engine.

It is evident that I may dispense with several of the elements shown,and still be within the bounds of my invention, the essential feature ofwhich is a condenser adapted to be charged by a source of elec' tricityand to be discharged when the engine is at rest to cause a spark in theengine cylinder whereby to start the same. Preferably the condenser ischarged from a source of high potential electricity and is discharged tocause a spark in a jump spark plug.

The principles thus far set forth and shown in a diagrammatic form inFig. 1, have been embodied by me in the commercial device shown in Figs.2 to 9 which will now be described.

In Fig.- 2, K represents the dashboard of the automobile upon which isfastened by screw bolts the switch case L-having' an insulatingfront-piece M carrying the con- 'tacts m, n, 0, p, of which m isconnected to the distributer n to the magneto primary and 0 and p, toground. Backof this insulating front-piece there is located anotherinsulating piece N also carrying contacts j, J, F which are connectedduring the rotation of the switch with the outer contacts m, 'n, 0. Thispiece N forms the cover of the switch 0 adapted to be rotate-d by theknob or handle I. Within the switch are located the condenser G and theconductors t t connecting the sides of the condenser to the contacts 42and p. u is a safety sparkgap for preventing the rupture of theconaccents denser plates by too great an accumulation of charge. 1: isthe contact connected to the engine cylinder (corresponding to contact 3of the distributer, Fig. 1). In order to prevent the rotary switch frombeing turned backward, I have-provided the ratchet and pawl w, and inorder that the switch may be loosely held in place when the arrow is atthe on or off osition, I have arranged the ball w hel by a spring in ahollow in the circumference of the switch frame. When the arrow is inthe position shown in Fig 7, indicating that theengine is running in itsnormal manner, the contacts are in the relative position shown in Fig.4. Under these conditions the spark of the secondary distributer entersat .m, passes through contact 7" to contact 22, to spark-plug of the enine cylinder. To stop the engine, the switch is turned still farther inthe direction of the arrow, and the pointer is brought to the ofiposition shown in Fig, 8. In passing"tothis'posi tion, the strip Jremains in contact with the terminal m and hence receives the sparksfrom the distributer. These sparks jump across from the piece 3(attached to J) to the spark terminal t of the condenser Gr, whence theypass out across the other sparkgap terminals y, t, of the condenser to 0and to ground. When the switch reaches the position shown in Fig. 8, theconnections are arranged as in Fig. 5. In this case, the projection 72/first meets con tact m, and grounds through 0, the spark coming from thedistributer. But almost at the same time the contact at, which isconnected with the magneto primary, has met the contact F, therebygrounding the magneto primary through 0, short-circuiting the magneto,and, consequently, stopping the englne. If now it is desired to startthe engine, the switch is further rotated in the same direction, andwhen the condenser terminal 75 passes over contact 01, and condenserterminal t over contact 7), the condenser will be discharged from athrough the primary circuit. This discharge through the primary,inducing a current in the secondary and causing a spark in ,the properspark-plug, starts the engine.

It is obvious that my device would operate equally well with a magnetohaving a single coil (high potential) through which the condenser couldbe both charged and discharged, or with a magneto wound with a singlelow potential coil, connected with the primary of a transformer. In thespecification the word magneto is used in the sense of any electricdevice having a high tension coil, including transformers, motordynamos, etc.

Having thus fully set forth and illustrated my invention, what I claim,is

1. The combination of an explosive-engine roams with its iter, acondenser, means for charging 1 2 same, and manually controllable meansfor discharging the condenser to cause a current to pass through saidigniter to start the engine after the charging operation isdiscontinued.

,2. The combination of an explosive engine having an igniter, a sourceof current, a condenser, and manually controllable means for chargingthe same from said source of current, and-discharging said condenserinto said igniter when the motor is at rest.

3. The combination of an explosive engine having an igniter, a magnetodriven by the engine, a condenser, means for charging the same from saidmagneto while the motor is running, and means for discharging saidcondenser into said igniter when the mag neto is at rest.

4. An igniting device for explosive engines, comprising a source ofelectricity, a distributer for directing current to the variouscylinders of the engine, an igniter for each cylinder, and a condenseradapted to be charged from said source of electricity through saiddistributor, in combination with a switch adapted to connect thecondenser with the distributer and with the source of electricity.

5. In a starting device for explosive en- V gines, a primary circuitprovided with an interrupter, a secondary circuit, a rotary distributerin the secondary circuit, a condenser,' means for putting the condenserinto charging relation with the distributor, the speed of theinterrupter and of the distributcr being so proportioned that thecondenser is always charged in the same direction, in combination withmeans for shortcircuiting the condenser through the primary, therebycausing a spark at the terminals of the secondary circuit.

6. An igniting device for explosive engines, comprising a magneto, adistributer, a condenser, means for charging the condenser from themagneto, in combination with means for discharging the condenser andigniting the gas in the engine cylinder when the magneto is at rest.

7 A starting device for explosive engines, comprising an igniter, aprime motor, an alternating current dynamo, a condenser,

means for charging the condenser from the.

alternating current dynamo and means for connecting the condenser withthe igniter, and discharging the condenser through the igniter when thedynamo is at rest.

8. In a starting device for explosive engines, a primary circuitprovided with an interrupter, a secondary circuit, a distributer in thesecondary circuit, means for rotating the distributor and interrupter at'a speed ratio equal to the number of cylinders divided by two, acondenser in combination with means for putting the condenser intocharging relation to the distributor, and shorbcircuiting the latterthrough the primary, thereby causing a spark at the terminals of thesecondary circuit.

9. A starting device for explosive engines, comprising a magnetoprovided with a primary and a secondar circuit, and a condenser adaptedto receive a charge from said secondary circuit, in combination withmeans for connect-ing the condenser with the secondary circuit, andmanually controllable means for discharging the condenser through theprimary.

'10. In an ignition device for explosive engines, a low potentialprimary circuit, a high potential induced circuit, in combination with acondenser connected with the induced circuit and manually controllablemeans for of the spark-plug.

12. In a starting device for explosive engines, a primary circuitprovided with an interrupter, a secondary circuit, a distributer in thesecondary circuit geared to the interrupter, a condenser, means forputting the condenser into charging relation to the distributer, thegears on the interrupter and distributor being so proportioned that thecondenser is always charged in the same direction, in combination withmeans for short-circuiting the condenser through the primary, therebycausing a spark at the terminals of the secondary circuit.

13. A start-ing device for explosive engines, comprising a spark-plug, agenerator, a high potential circuit in series with the spark-plug, acondenser and a manually operablerotary switch for controlling theoperation of the circuit to charge the condenser from said highpotential circuit and discharge it to cause a current to pass throughsaid spark plug.

14. The combination of an explosive engine having an igniter, a sourceof current,

a condenser and a manually operable rotary switch adapted to charge thesame from said source of current and to discharge it into said igniterwhen the motor is at rest.

15. A starting device for explosive engines, comprising a magnetoprovided with a primary and a secondary circuit, and a condenser adaptedto receive the charge from said secondary circuit, in combination with amanually operable rotary switch ondary current, and a switch havingfixed terminals connected respectively with said spark-plug, distributerand primary circuit, and two fixed terminals connected with the ground,said switch having a rotary operation carrying a series of contactsco-acting with the said fixed terminals to electrically connect saiddistributer with said sparkplug said distributer with said condenser andsaid distributer with the ground, and

being also adapted to connect said primary circuit with the ground, andto short-circuit said condenser through said primary circuit.

17. In a starting; device for explosive engines, a source ofelectricity, igniting means adapted to be operated thereby, a condenser,means for charging the same from such source, said condenser beingadapted to remain charged after such source of current is discontinued,and said condenser being adapted to be connected with said ignitingmeans to cause a current to pass through the latter, and manuallycontrollable means for discharging said condenser to operate saidigniting means after such source has been discontinued.

18. In a starting device for explosive engines, a source of electricity,a jump-spark igniter adapted to be operated thereby, a condenser, meansfor charging the-same from such source, said condenser being adapted toremain charged after such source of current is discontinued, and saidcondenser being adapted to be connected with said igniter to cause acurrent to pass through the latter, and-manually controllable means fordischarging said condenser to operate said igniter after such source hasbeen discontinued.

, 19. In a starting device for explosive engines, a magneto drivenby theengine, a jump spark plug adapted to be operated by said magneto, acondenser, means for chargnos-awe ing said condenser from said magnetowhile the engine is running, said condenser being adapted to remaincharged after the engine and magneto stop, and a manually controllablemeans for connecting said condenser with said jump-spark plug to causethe charge of said condenser to pass through said plug, to start theengine. a

20. In a starting device for explosive en gines, an igniting meanscomprising a jumpspark plug, a magneto system driven by the engine andhaving a primary circuit and a secondary circuit carrying an inducedcurrent of high potential, a condenser, means for charging saidcondenser by said induced current when the engine and magneto arerunning, and a manually controllable means for causing said condenser todischarge its charge to cause a current to pass through said jump-sparkplug when the engine and magneto are at rest.

21. In a starting device for explosive engines, an igniting meanscomprising a jumpspark plug, a magneto system driven by the engine andhaving a primary circuit and a secondary circuit carrying an inducedcurrent of high potential, a condenser, means for charging'saidcondenser by said induced current when the engine and magneto arerunning, and a manually controllable means for causing said condenser todischarge its charge through said primary circuit to induce a current ofhigh potential to cross the spark gap of said plug when the engine andmagneto are at rest.

22. The combination with an explosive engine of an igniter therefor, acondenser adapted to be charged by a source of electric current andadapted to be discharged to cause said igniter to operate, and amanually operable means for controlling the discharge of said condenserwhen the engine is at rest in order to start the latter.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM J. rosrnn.

Witnesses FRED WHITE, ALBERT STETSON.

